Bossard to hold UFO discussion

The Bossard Memorial Library carries a variety of books covering the topic of UFOs. UFO researcher Chris Parsons will hold a lecture and discussion on UFOs on Nov. 3 at the library.

Dean Wright | Daily Tribune

GALLIPOLIS — Bossard Memorial Library will be hosting Ironton native and UFO researcher Chris Parsons Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. to take part in a public discussion about unidentified flying objects, skepticism and what that means for the world.

Parsons, 52, currently lives in Dublin and is a member of the Ohio chapter of MUFON (the UFO Network), reportedly the oldest and largest UFO phenomena researching organization in the world. The organization takes part in a program aired on the History Channel called Hanger 1: The UFO Files. Parson’s presentation is titled “Why UFOs Matter.”

Parsons said he will be holding the event in two parts. First, he will lecture on how UFOs came to be studied and, secondly, he will hold a discussion with event comers regarding their questions and experiences.

“Roswell is traditionally considered to the the Holy Grail event that started the whole thing,” said Parsons. “Actually, Kenneth Arnold about a week before reported a UFO sighting down at Mount Rainier seeing nine discs he described as skipping along when he was flying his plane. About a week to two weeks later we had Roswell. And since then, in my opinion, the world has been forever changed as a result of that revelation.”

According to Parsons and his research, there are currently around 600 witnessed and recorded events spoken about in the UFO research community.

“I’ll show quotations and documents released from the government that most people are obviously never going to see in high school or college,” said Parsons. “It’s not part of the history we are taught and there have been some recent amazing things that have happened just in the last couple of weeks and this past year.”

Whether unidentified objects some see in the skies are alien or not, Parsons does his best to remain skeptical. He said it’s important to rule out all ordinary explanations before coming to the conclusion of extraterrestrial life in the universe. If the universe is unlimited in size, however, he says there are potentially infinite chances of life beyond Earth out there. He also says that given the history of the US government’s activity, one shouldn’t be surprised if the government did not choose to speak of alien activity openly.

Parsons said he was first interested in UFOs during an experience in his childhood. Parsons said he was riding a new bicycle down the road before looking into the sky and noted a metallic disc flying silently. It would eventually disappear under cloud cover but impacted Parsons to dedicate his life to the research of such objects for the rest of his days.

Dean Wright can be reached at 740-46-2342, ext. 2103.

The Bossard Memorial Library carries a variety of books covering the topic of UFOs. UFO researcher Chris Parsons will hold a lecture and discussion on UFOs on Nov. 3 at the library.